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Good books, old friends

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By Kara Kvasnicka

Tuesday, November 29, -0001

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Sometimes, no matter what our credentials for critiquing them, we should let books speak for themselves instead of insisting on speaking for them.

For instance, if you were to look for a book in my library, I could give you all sorts of arguments for choosing Michigan author Lynne Rae Perkins' latest novel Criss Cross (Greenwillow Books, 2005, 337 pages, $16.95).

First and foremost, the American Library Association has awarded it the 2006 John Newbery Medal for "most outstanding contribution to children - literature" in a given year. And, miraculously, it does everything possible to deserve this most coveted of all juvenile book prizes.

If you knew the recipe for the perfect novel, you would have no problem finding every ingredient for it in Perkins' quiet, unassuming masterpiece.

Granted, its premise is probably one you have encountered before. But with unconventional Perkins in the driver - seat, you have no way of knowing where it will take you. Unless you stick with her narrative to the end, you can only speculate as to whether her heroine gets her simple wish for something good to happen to her. Specifically, although she is afraid it might "require being a different person," 14-year-old Debbie dares to hope she will soon meet her first great love.

You also already may have the answers to the timeless and universal questions Perkins poses. But, like the best artists in any medium, she has the uncanny ability to make you wonder anew about the most unfathomable mysteries.

Is true love destined or accidental? Is there only one person in the whole wide world with whom you can be soul mates? If so, what are your odds of finding that person? How will your paths ever manage to "criss cross"?

One question begets another as Perkins purposefully pares away the protective skin shielding your vulnerable heart to expose you to disturbing possibilities you thought you had long since vanquished.

Confusion sends certainty packing.

And suddenly, without quite knowing how you got there, you find yourself out on an all too precarious limb.

Yet, incredibly, despite the obvious danger you are in, you are not the least bit scared. How can you be when perched alongside you, pondering the same unsolvable riddles, is one of the most appealing casts of characters you have ever met?

Major or minor, deft portraitist Perkins is careful to give distinguishing traits to each member of her captivating ensemble. But striving for regular folk rather than superheroes, she makes sure none of them are so singular you cannot imagine bumping into them in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store.

In fact, the very reason you identify with Perkins' characters is you see yourself in them. Especially recognizable is the endearing assortment of personalities she has created to give alternative perspectives on being the awkward age of 14.

Chief among them is the aforementioned Debbie. She was first introduced in Perkins' acclaimed 1999 novel All Alone in the Universe (Greenwillow Books, 140 pages). How many other discouraged adolescents have shared her worry nobody would ever fall in love with her? After all, with those pesky glasses she must wear, she cannot claim much physically in common with the beauties who rule the glossy pages of popular teen magazines.

Then there is Hector who feels "unfinished, still in process." He is particularly puzzled, as you can surely relate if you have siblings, as to why his older sister - face has an "aura of interestingness" his does not.

Although not given near as much time in the spotlight, there are also Debbie and Hector - mutual friends. They include, along with their own individualized sets of insecurities, Phil, Lenny and Patty.

If you are comfortable in the shoes of Perkins' characters, you will feel right at home in the fictitious but familiar place she has selected as a setting. Seldem is the stereotypical modern American suburb where commercial interests trump aesthetic concerns every time. Indisputably, its most striking architectural feature is the "bobbing neon chicken" in front of the Idle Hour Restaurant "advertising ‘Chicken in the Rough.'" That being the case, it is understandable the kids who live in this epitome of kitsch should have little faith anything remotely romantic will ever blossom for them there.

Perhaps to stretch the concept of universality as far as she can, Perkins gives few details to help us pinpoint the exact time in which her story takes place. We only know it must be well before the internet enabled us to communicate with anyone anywhere any time. Otherwise, Debbie and her pals would not have to depend on a radio show called "Crisscross" to help them feel connected to the rest of the earth - population. This weekly program - quirky jokes and songs are their only hard evidence they are not the only ones on the planet whose thought patterns are out of sync with everyone else - .

All other things being equal, what really lifts this book above the usual fare for middle school readers is the quality and originality of Perkins' writing.

Impressive enough is the inimitable third person narrative voice through which Perkins succeeds in being at once funny, reassuring, philosophical and suspenseful.

But even more noteworthy is the array of storytelling devices she employs to show a manuscript can have as many surprises in store as fate.

For example, she tells one chapter almost entirely in poetry. Then, in another, she presents a conversation between two characters in the same format as dialogue in a play.

An artist as well an author, Perkins does not hesitate either to use drawings, photographs and sundry other types of illustration to advance her plot. Not the least of these is her gorgeous cover painting of Debbie, back turned to us, contemplating the irresistible fireworks display provided by lightning bugs on an evening in early summer. Which one, you can almost hear Debbie muse as she considers each insect separately, was she meant to capture and put in a jar?

Finally, just as dazzling as the myriad forms this novel takes are its contents. Almost every page has at least one Zen-like insight you will want to copy into a scrapbook.

Better yet is Perkins' lovely way of echoing her protagonist - wishful thinking. Like a ceremonial Hindu sari embroidered with precious stones, Perkins' text is aglitter with the priceless little moments in life which have the power to make us believe the bigger, fairy tale moments " the ones for which we yearn as much at 41 as 14 " are just over the horizon.

But, wait!

Forget everything I have just said and back up to that part in the third paragraph where you are at my library at wit - end for what book to begin next.

When I pull this luminous volume off the shelf and press it into your hands, I promise to let its unique brand of magic be yours alone to discover.

For once, I will content myself with saying no more than, "Here. If you have been waiting for something good to happen to you, take my word, this book is it."

Kvasnicka, a former East Village Magazine news editor, has been the magazine - contributing editor and research consultant since 1989. She is the librarian at the Genesee District Library - Goodrich Branch.

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